Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 206 Yan Shifan: Why is my love life so unlucky?

Just as Haiyue had predicted, it had only been a little over three years since Shen Jinghong and Xia Qingwu officially became "Female Earth Bats".

This period coincided with internal turmoil within the Liyuan Society, a time when they chose to lie low. Therefore, the two maintained contact with the society mainly through their maidservant, who was also their teacher, teaching them various skills in observing people's expressions and gathering intelligence.

The situation is similar to that of Chu Rou, except that Chu Rou was an exiled criminal who lived in a large mansion with many women and received uniform education. In the end, the outstanding ones were selected. Shen Xia and the other two women, on the other hand, came from respectable families and had great potential. They received one-on-one tutoring from the beginning.

If Haiyue and Yixin hadn't appeared, the members of the Liyuan Society wouldn't have had their identities exposed one after another. They would have married promising sons of officials, becoming two thorns firmly wedged into the upper echelons.

At this point, Shen Jinghong added, "Grandma Lin mentioned that the previous generation of 'female bats' were like this, and they even received an imperial decree, enjoying a life of honor and wealth."

Yan Xiu asked curiously, "Doesn't this Granny Lin know anything about what happened between you?"

Shen Jinghong said calmly, "Of course I know, but Granny Lin's intention is that the honor and favor of being a titled lady are what truly matter. Once we marry into a high-ranking family and have children, we will naturally have no more ulterior motives..."

Haiyue remained noncommittal; he never commented on other people's lives: "Where is that old servant woman now?"

Shen Jinghong said, "She left. She tried to hide her accent, but I could tell she was from Jiangnan. She must have returned home to retire, but I don't know exactly where."

Haiyue asked, "Who is delivering this letter to you now?"

Shen Jinghong said, "My maid Qingxiao is not a member of the Liyuan Society. She only goes to designated places to collect letters for me. Originally, she might not receive a letter even once a month, but recently it has become more frequent."

Haiyue then asked, "Who arranged your marriage?"

"Now that you've examined my secret box, young master, you must want to know who that person in the palace is, right?"

Shen Jinghong smiled slightly and said, "The person who can infiltrate the palace and find out the Empress Dowager's movements is the one the court is most concerned about. That is also the reason why you took direct action to arrest him. You should also realize that I am not qualified to know his identity. In fact, if Granny Lin were still alive, these letters would have been burned immediately and would never have been left in the dark box to avoid exposing his identity!"

Haiyue was not disappointed and calmly said, "But you have some guesses about this person's identity, don't you?"

Shen Jinghong asked curiously, "Why do you think that, young master?"

Haiyue said, "If you were truly ignorant of the secrets of the Liyuan Society and willing to be a pawn to be manipulated, why would you deliberately test me under the guise of a concubine? This action precisely reveals your confidence and composure. No matter how I respond, you feel you have the upper hand. Such a spirit is worthy of your reputation as a talented woman!"

"Young master, you truly possess the ability to see into people's hearts; you are indeed worthy of being called a detective!"

Shen Jinghong's eyes flashed, and she gave a sincere compliment, then said coldly, "I am absolutely unwilling to simply obey orders and become a puppet in the hands of others. Therefore, over the years, I have also gathered a lot of information through indirect means, and I have confirmed one thing! The Liyuan Society has more than one person in the palace!"

This is not unexpected.

After all, the slogan of the Liyuan Society was to suppress the power of the emperor, and the Yuan Emperor was aiming for the throne, so the Forbidden City was naturally their target.

But Shen Jinghong's next point was quite clear: "When the two empress dowagers were in power, each of them had a traitor from the Liyuan Society by their side, especially Empress Zhang. That person's status was definitely not low, and he should be a trusted confidant!"

Haiyue's eyes flickered slightly: "Empress Dowager Zhang... so you mean?"

"Not bad!"

Shen Jinghong said, "Princess Yongchun was drugged and fell into a coma by thieves, Consort Jiang was nearly assassinated, and Empress Dowager Zhang has been placed under house arrest in the palace by His Majesty! Although no one dares to discuss this matter openly, who in the capital doesn't know about it? That person must have been implicated in this incident. The current strict palace security and limited information flow are proof of this..."

According to her judgment, the people that Li Yuanshe had planted around Empress Zhang had not been exposed, but they were caught in the crossfire of the palace intrigue.

Empress Dowager Zhang was placed under house arrest, but not all of her close confidants were killed. Instead, they were demoted to the lowest and most arduous position in the palace, where they were forced to perform manual labor.

For Li Yuanshe, such people lost their value, as they could not obtain information about the higher-ups. Meanwhile, the spies around Empress Dowager Jiang took on all the intelligence sources, and Shen Jinghong keenly noticed the subtle differences in their intelligence.

At this point, she made a suggestion: "If you want to investigate the traitors around Empress Dowager Jiang, start with Empress Dowager Zhang's old associates. Once they identify them, you will achieve twice the result with half the effort!"

See? That's professionalism!
Shen Jinghong's idea was refreshing; this method was indeed much better than the previous general approach.

In light of this, Haiyue simply extended an invitation: "This matter is of utmost importance. If you are willing to help find the thieves in the palace, you may be able to atone for your crimes."

Shen Jinghong asked in surprise, "Does the young master intend to have the Embroidered Uniform Guard take me into the palace?"

Haiyue said, "I will inform the Embroidered Uniform Guard about this matter, but the one who will actually bring you into the palace is most likely Princess Li."

"Is that the Empress Dowager's adopted daughter? She's quite lucky..."

Shen Jinghong understood, and with a hint of envy in her voice, she quickly asked, "Where's Qingwu?"

Haiyue said, "We will not do anything to the Xia family. Her subsequent treatment will be the same as yours."

Shen Jinghong breathed a sigh of relief, hesitated, and swallowed back what she wanted to say.

She actually wanted to ask, now that her identity has been revealed, shouldn't the Yan family cancel the marriage? In her previous letters, Shen Jinghong had expressed her strong disgust for the only son of the Yan family. Although she couldn't say she liked the man in front of her, she could accept marrying him according to Li Yuanshe's arrangement, but she would never accept Xia Qingwu marrying a boastful and lecherous man like Yan Shifan.

Haiyue also thought of Yan Shifan at this moment. He knew that after failing the imperial examination, Yan Shifan devoted himself to investigating the case of Liyuan Society, but...

Encountering this pair of "female bats" was really bad luck.

Given the current situation, the wedding must be called off.

Without further ado, Haiyue said to Yan Xiu, "I'm going to the Yan residence. She's entrusted to Brother Yan and Xiao Chuan."

"rest assured!"

Yan Xiu smiled, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and looked at Shen Jinghong: "After your family wakes up, will they report you to the authorities indiscriminately?"

Shen Jinghong said softly, "I will leave a letter for my maid Qingxiao to give her some instructions. It won't cause any trouble."

"That's good!"

Seeing that they had made the arrangements, Haiyue immediately walked outside. Behind her, Xiaochuan asked curiously, "Brother, what's going on with these two sisters?"

A hand slapped Xiao Chuan on the head: "Don't ask so many questions, you're just a kid!"

……

"what?"

When Yan Shifan learned the truth about why children shouldn't ask too many questions, he was stunned and slowly sat down: "So, no matter how good I am, she will never fall in love with me? Why is my love life so unlucky?"

He originally thought he was about to succeed, but it turned out that the other party did not love men at all. He, the son of a high-ranking official, a newly appointed candidate in the imperial examination, and a man of great talent and understanding, had all his advantages shown to a blind man.

Haiyue was a little tense, but comforted him, "Donglou, this is indeed a special case, it's not your fault."

Yan Shifan tried to calm down, but he couldn't: "How am I supposed to explain this to my parents? They're still waiting for the wedding ceremony, and the wedding date has already been set!"

Haiyue asked curiously, "Didn't you tell your uncle and aunt?"

"You told me to tell you sooner, but I've kept it a secret until now..."

Yan Shifan was reluctant to speak frankly. Yan Song had initially forbidden him from investigating the secret society, clearly feeling it was too dangerous and that as the son of a high-ranking official, he shouldn't be standing under a crumbling wall.

If he had revealed earlier that Xia Qingwu was very likely a core member of the Liyuan Society, then Yan Song would have decisively canceled the engagement banquet on the day of the betrothal ceremony, then taken down the entire Xia family and cut ties with them directly.

It was precisely Yan Shifan who kept this a secret. Yan Song and Madam Ouyang were unaware of it and had high expectations for Xia Qingwu, their future daughter-in-law. They hoped she could keep an eye on their son, make him behave better, and become more reliable and steady.

It turned out that the daughter-in-law's problems were far more serious than the son's, and all hopes were dashed...

Yan Shifan sighed deeply: "What should we do?"

"We can only wait and see how the capture of the thief goes."

Hai Yue pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Shen Jinghong and Xia Qingwu will be entering the palace to assist in capturing the thieves hiding there. If the two can redeem themselves and save their lives, then we can use illness as an excuse to cancel the marriage. This way, both families can save face, and it's the best solution!"

Yan Shifan worried, "What if capturing the thief doesn't go smoothly?"

Haiyue said, "The Shen and Xia families will be implicated. The Yan family was almost deceived by the thieves, but fortunately the Embroidered Uniform Guards saw through their true colors in time and stopped them..."

Yan Shifan immediately understood that if Yixin Hui discovered the thief's suspicious behavior early on, and he still got engaged to the other party, he would become a laughing stock in the capital. However, if the Embroidered Uniform Guard found out, there would be no such problem: "But in that case, wouldn't the credit go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard? It's all thanks to your efforts, Mingwei!"

Haiyue corrected, "It was our hard work. You've been putting yourself in danger the whole time. If we couldn't protect you, how could we talk about being of one mind?"

"Isshinkai! The name of Isshin!"

Yan Shifan's heart trembled. He took a deep breath, and his gaze hardened: "Mingwei, I was so ashamed to face Yixin Hui after failing the imperial examination. Now I realize how shallow my thoughts were before. I understand!"

Looking at Yan Shifan, who appeared much more composed, Haiyue felt somewhat gratified, hoping that this experience would truly bring about some change in him.

When Yan Shifan parted ways with her and returned to the inner quarters, he saw candles burning inside. Madam Ouyang, with a kind and gentle expression, beckoned him over: "Qing'er, come here, see what your mother has prepared for your wife..."

Yan Shifan stepped forward calmly and knelt down: "Mother, I have something to tell you. After you hear it, please don't get agitated..."

After a long while, a furious roar that seemed to tear the roof off erupted, and a figure fled in a disheveled state: "Mother! Don't hit me! Don't hit me! Your son has become a scholar, a scholar!"

(End of this chapter)